


To Your Health

by FaintlyMacabre



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [6]
Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Common Cold, F/F, Fainting, Gen, Heist, Junoverse | Juno Steel Universe, Sickfic, Uncommon Cold
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:40:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24007513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FaintlyMacabre/pseuds/FaintlyMacabre
Summary: Sure, Buddy's not feeling great, but when has she ever let her health get in the way of her goals?
Relationships: Buddy Aurinko & Juno Steel, Buddy Aurinko & Peter Nureyev, Buddy Aurinko/Vespa
Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1702642
Comments: 5
Kudos: 61
Collections: Bad Things Happen Bingo





	To Your Health

**Author's Note:**

> Written for shadowkat2000 on Tumblr: Bad Things Happen Bingo: Definitely Just a Cold, and Buddy. Thank you so much for the prompt!

Buddy pretended to drink from the champagne flute she’d taken off a waiter an hour ago. There was nothing wrong with it, presumably; the waitstaff were running around with a hundred just like it for any guest who might be feeling a little dry. It was just this awful persistent cold that made the thought of drinking remarkably unappealing. Besides, it was no good getting dehydrated and making herself feel worse.

“She’s moving toward the service hallway,” Ransom murmured in her ear. When she didn’t immediately give him an order, he dropped the casual couple act a bit and really looked at her. “Captain? Are you all right?”

She felt terrible. “Fine,” she said. “Sounds like that’s our cue. Take a drink with you.” He reached for her still full glass, but she pulled it away, trying to make the movement look playful. “Better get a fresh one, dear, no sense in giving you what I’ve got.” Ransom grimaced, nodded, and started after their mark.

* * *

For once, as she slipped an earring onto the handle of the fire alarm, Buddy wished for one of those boring, perfect crimes she’d normally roll her eyes at. This still had room to go smoothly, of course— she walked away without breaking stride, spooling out fishing line as she went— but she could really do without loud noises just now. She ran out of line just as she opened the bathroom door and gave it a sharp tug after the alarm started blaring to dislodge the earring and knock it to the floor. She threw the line in the trash and slunk into a stall to wait for the building to clear out, trying to ignore the pounding emanating through her head.

* * *

“Keys, Ransom.”

Ransom looked unsure. “Captain, if you don’t mind my saying—”

“I’ll only mind if this takes any longer.”

“You look terrible. I think I should drive.”

Buddy raised an eyebrow at him. “Well, I asked for blunt.” She gestured at the driver’s door and made her way to the passenger side. Truth be told, she should have suggested it herself. Her headache had only gotten worse; she felt pressure all over her face, even the left side, where she’d assumed the nerves had died years ago. Not to mention it felt like something round with both fur and scales had taken up residence in her throat.

At least she got into the car before she passed out.

* * *

She woke up to shouting, which was undesirable but not unfamiliar.

“I don’t know, I came back as fast as I could!” More than one set of footsteps echoed through the hold. She wanted to tell Ransom to pipe down, but speaking felt like a lot of effort.

“Buddy! Oh god, Bud.” For that voice, she opened her eyes.

“Vespa,” she managed to get out with some difficulty.

“Don’t try to move, sweetheart, just stay there.” And that was mildly alarming— Vespa hardly ever used endearments. She didn’t need to; the love she felt for Buddy was apparent whenever she said her name. “Sikuliaq?”

“Of course.” Being lifted fully off the ground by another person was a strange feeling, as an adult. Buddy would almost have felt like laughing, except for everything else. She drifted off again before they even left the hold.

* * *

Buddy didn’t particularly want to open her eyes. She could tell from the smell and the sounds that she was in the medbay, and she remembered everything: the cold that was more than a cold, barely making it through the job, passing out in the car. The pain was dulled somewhat now, but she could still feel it lying in wait at the edges. When she opened her eyes, she would have to _know_ , and she would have to deal. And she would. But she was so very tired and another few moments of darkness and less-than-blissful ignorance didn’t seem like too much to ask.

She blinked and squinted under the fluorescents. They looked like they’d been dimmed a bit, for which she was thankful. Past the IV stand by her side, she saw Juno dozing in a chair, succumbing to gravity little by little until he nearly hit his chin on the counter.

He snapped awake with a little yelp. “I wasn’t sleeping!” he said.

“Glad to hear it.”

“Buddy!” Juno jumped up and started toward her before he stopped himself. “You’re awake! I’m gonna go get Vespa — she wanted to stay but you were out for kind of a while so we made her agree to sleep or at least eat something and rest but she still wouldn’t go until the Big Guy talked to her so now I think he’s teaching her to knit or something and yeah, I should just get her and she can tell you about it. How, um, how are you feeling?”

“I won’t tell Vespa you fell asleep,” Buddy said, amused despite her current condition.

“Oh, thank god,” Juno sighed. “But, you know, I wasn’t fishing for that. I really do want to know.”

Buddy thought about it. “I’ll let you know how I’m feeling when I know what’s wrong with me.”

“That’s fair,” Juno said, heading to the door. “I’m glad you’re awake now.”

* * *

“Buddy!” Vespa looked like she wanted to throw her arms around her but was restraining herself. “How are you feeling?”

“Would it be rude to say impatient?” Buddy said. “Do you know what’s wrong with me?”

“It looks like a cold—”

“A cold shouldn’t have taken me so completely out of commission—”

“—layered on top of lack of sleep, dehydration, and the lingering effects of radiation poisoning.” Vespa put her hands on her hips and looked at Buddy pointedly. “Oh, yeah, and impatience.”

“That’s all?”

“Bud, you’re working yourself into the ground!” Vespa sat on the side of her cot. “You’re the first one up in the morning and some nights I have to talk you into coming to bed. Throw that in with your diet—”

“The supplements work perfectly well.”

“They don’t work perfectly well, just better than anything else,” Vespa said. “I don’t want to have to try to convince you to take care of yourself. I will, but I don’t want to.”

“I’ve been putting an awful strain on you, haven’t I, darling?” Buddy said, a rush of guilt washing over her.

“You’ve been straining yourself!” Vespa growled. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you! You’re so worried about the work, and us, and you don’t spare enough time or thought or energy to take care of yourself. We’re not young anymore, Bud, you can’t just work eighteen-hour days and collapse and do it all again the next day. Come on, I just got you back.”

Buddy’s organic eye stung. “Low blow, don’t you think?”

Vespa shook her head. “You’re right, this isn’t about me. So I’ll tell you, as your doctor, you better start taking care of yourself.”

“Thank you, doctor,” Buddy said, and Vespa looked like she was going to scream. “I’m not being funny, I mean it. Thank you.”

“Of course, Bud.” Vespa took her hand and glanced down at the IV running into her arm. “Now that you’re awake, you can actually drink something. Sikuliaq was brewing up some tea for you, I can go get it.”

“Would you just send him a message, love?” Buddy said. “It feels like a long time since we just sat together.”

Vespa’s smile took her breath away for a second. “Yeah, it does. I can do that.”

“And I can try to be better at taking care of myself,” Buddy said. “Not that I’m not enjoying having you taking care of me.” Actually, sitting here in the medbay with Vespa, Buddy felt better than she had in weeks.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I'm @princegabriel on Tumblr, and if you'd like to request a Bad Things Happen Bingo prompt (or if you just like fiction podcasts, cute animals, and the occasional photo of ruins), come on over!


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